Traffic ‘maintained very well,' Calcutta HC praises Kolkata police on Shaheed Diwas rally day
Justice Tirthankar Ghosh observed, 'The roads have been maintained very well. I always say that I have full faith in the Kolkata police,' while giving the police a certificate.
A lawyer from New Alipore agreed, claiming that he had reached the court from his residence at the same time as on other days in his car.
At the same time, the Justice expressed his disappointment on seeing the absence of lawyers in the courtroom. On Monday, the Bar Association had appealed to the Chief Justice not to give any verdict in a case if one of the parties does not appear. Referring to that issue, the Justice observed, 'The court's work cannot proceed like this. I do not believe that the road conditions are not such today that we cannot reach the court by 10:30 am. You are spoiling the work atmosphere.'
The court on Friday had directed that all processions heading to the TMC's rally at Central Kolkata's Dharmatala on July 21 must reach the venue by 8 am or after 11 am to ensure the smooth flow of traffic through Central Kolkata during rush hours.
'From 9 am to 11 am, the police authorities would ensure that there is no traffic congestion through the routes which lead to the High Court at Calcutta or within a fringe of 5 km where offices are situated at the Central Kolkata… Commissioner of Police, Kolkata would ensure that deployment of police force be adequately maintained to ensure smooth traffic movement,' said the court's order.
Justice Tirthankar Ghosh, on Thursday in a verbal observation, had urged the TMC to choose a different venue for the Martyrs' Day rally from next year, such as Shahid Minar, the Brigade Parade Ground, or the Salt Lake Stadium. The court had been hearing a petition filed by a group of lawyers alleging potential inconvenience to commuters due to the rally.
The annual Shaheed Diwas or Martyrs' Day rally commemorates the death of 13 Youth Congress workers in 1993 after the police resorted to lathi-charge and opened fire at protesters, demanding that voter ID be made the sole document required for voting. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, then a leader of the Youth Congress, was leading the protest demonstration.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Time of India
2 hours ago
- Time of India
'What Nonsense Is This?' TMC MP Mahua Moitra Blasts Centre Over 'Missing' Pahalgam Terrorists
Watch the full interview: where TMC MP Mohua Moitra claims BJP and the Centre is trying divert attention from security failure in Pahalgam attack to illegal Bangladeshi immigrants. In an exclusive interview with TOI Bharat, TMC MP Mohua Moitra tore apart BJP for allegedly picking up Bengali migrant workers in states illegally. In a freewheeling chat with Aditi Prasad on the recent crackdown on Bangladeshi immigrants in Gurugram, Mahua Moitra alleges that due process have not been followed while detaining Bengali-speaking migrants despite showing identity proofs. Moitra says legal migrants are being picked up on the basis of language, hinting at a sinister ploy to persecute people from Bengal. She has also issued warning that the issue will blow up in the face of BJP which aims to wrest power from Mamata Banerjee in West Bengal in the 2026 assembly elections.#mahuamoitra #mahuamoitrainterview #mahuamoitraspeech #tmc #bjp #pmmodi #narendramodi #amitshah #mamatabanerjee #bengal #bengali #gurugrambengali #gurugrambangladeshi #bengalimigrants #bengaliimmigrants #bangladeshi #bangladeshiimmigrants #illegalimmigrants #rohingyas #bsf #murshidabadviolence #bengalelections #bengalassemblypolls #toi #toibharat #bharat #trending #breakingnews #indianews
Scroll.in
2 hours ago
- Scroll.in
Why a court ban on encrypted email service Proton Mail has sparked digital privacy fears
A two-judge bench of the Karnataka High Court is now hearing a challenge filed by Proton AG, the Swiss company that runs the encrypted email service, Proton Mail. On April 29, a single judge of the high court had directed the Union government to block the service in India, setting off a wave of criticism from digital rights advocates. Many of them told Scroll that the court's ban set a dangerous precedent that threatens the privacy of whistle-blowers, activists, journalists, and others who rely on encryption for more secure communications. They said the court had erred in blaming encryption for Proton's alleged non-cooperation with the Karnataka police in its investigation into online harassment by anonymous culprits through its email service. What did the High Court order say? The case began when a Bengaluru-based organisation approached the High Court after some of its female employees were subjected to prolonged online harassment. The company received a torrent of emails from two Proton Mail accounts containing obscene and abusive content, including morphed images of the employees. The company filed a police complaint and reached out to Proton Mail's abuse team. While Proton disabled the offending accounts, it could not provide the company personally identifiable details of the sender of the mail. This is because, it informed the company, under Swiss law, it could only disclose user data upon receiving a formal legal request from Swiss authorities through established international cooperation channels. The police investigation hit a similar wall. The police told the court that they could not identify the culprit through the mutual legal assistance arrangements between India and Switzerland. However, the judgment didn't clarify what specific steps were taken or where those efforts stalled. Nevertheless, Justice M Nagaprasanna took a stern view of the matter in his judgment. Describing the situation as a 'menace', he noted that Proton Mail had also been used to send bomb threats to schools and even to the Chief Minister of Karnataka. 'The State machinery [is] hamstrung by the absence of enforceable cooperation from Proton AG,' Nagaprasanna observed. 'This Court fails to understand the complacency of the Union of India in not taking action towards blocking the Proton Mail…' Concluding that the court could not remain a 'mute spectator', the judge directed the Union government to initiate proceedings to block Proton Mail in India under the Information Technology Act. 'Troubling precedent' As of July 25, Proton Mail was still accessible in India. While the court's intent to protect the victims of harassment is clear, technology lawyers and digital rights advocates raised concerns about the order's sweeping nature and its wider implications. They argue that blocking an entire service used by many for the criminal acts of a few is a disproportionate response that could undermine digital security for everyone. The order 'sets a troubling precedent,' said Raman Jit Singh Chima, Asia Pacific Policy Director at Access Now, a digital civil rights organisation. 'It signals that entire encrypted services can be taken down based on allegations linked to a handful of users.' A ban could lead to a domino effect, warned Apar Gupta, lawyer and founder director of the Internet Freedom Foundation. 'Other encrypted platforms could face pressure to weaken their security or risk being blocked,' he explained. 'This approach may inadvertently chill free expression, as journalists, activists and at-risk communities who rely on encrypted communications for safety might feel less secure.' This view was echoed by technology lawyer and online civil liberties activist Mishi Choudhary. 'In today's day of heightened cyber security issues and surveillance, privacy-protecting technologies are more crucial than ever,' she said. Blocking Proton Mail would not eliminate online abuse either, said technologist and interdisciplinary researcher Rohini Lakshané. 'Malicious actors can simply migrate to other encrypted email providers or deploy additional anonymisation techniques,' she said. The fear is that the High Court's order could give cover to authorities to take a heavy-handed approach towards any platform that offers privacy. 'This move will embolden the bureaucracy and the political powers to act first and think later,' cautioned Tanveer Hasan, executive director of the Centre for Internet and Society, an internet and digital technologies research organisation. As Choudhary noted, 'India cannot be a destination that issues blocking orders at the drop of a hat if investigative authorities aren't able to access some data.' Gupta warned that the order would create legal uncertainty for overseas service providers. 'Those in jurisdictions with strict privacy laws could be caught between home-country obligations and Indian court demands, deterring them from offering services in India,' he said. Encryption versus user identification A key point of contention is the court's conflation of the protection of a message's content with the ability to identify a user. The court identified encryption as a factor for the police's failed investigation – without explaining how. Encrypted services like Proton Mail are prevented from seeing the content of messages sent on their platforms, but may still access user metadata, such as internet protocol address – a unique alphanumerical identifier assigned to each computer connected to the internet – from which an account was created or accessed. Nikhil Narendran, a partner at the law firm Trilegal, argued that the ban was based on a misunderstanding of the technology 'Encryption only protects the content of a message but does not prevent a receiver or sender from disclosing it wilfully,' he explained. 'It also doesn't prevent a company from disclosing user information once the content is disclosed.' This metadata can be a crucial tool for law enforcement to trace the origin of a criminal act. In 2021, Proton Mail handed over the internet protocol address of French Proton Mail users to the French police upon an order by the Swiss government. 'So, the idea that Proton Mail is immune to legal process is simply not true,' Chima said. Sharveya Parasnis, a journalist at the technology policy portal Medianama, questioned the court's invocation of encryption. 'I don't know if the case is about encryption as much as it is about the obligation of foreign companies to comply with Indian law enforcement requests for user data,' he said. The Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021 mandate that online platforms 'enable the identification' of anyone communicating through the platform upon a government or court order. The right way forward? Experts pointed out that a blanket ban failed the three-part test for restricting fundamental rights laid down by the Supreme Court in its landmark privacy judgment in 2018. Any restriction must be lawful, necessary and, crucially, proportionate. 'Here, less intrusive options clearly existed,' Chima said. He and other experts Scroll spoke with argued that instead of resorting to bans, Indian authorities should strengthen and use existing legal channels. India and Switzerland are both signatories to a Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty, a formal mechanism for requesting and obtaining evidence for criminal investigations. The treaty should be reformed 'so investigators can lawfully obtain data in a timely manner,' suggested Gupta. 'Regulators can also establish clear, transparent protocols for engaging with encrypted services based abroad, and even update outdated agreements to address modern cybercrime.' Rahul Narayan, a partner at the law firm Chandhiok & Mahajan who has expertise in privacy and data protection, batted for more legislative clarity in such situations. 'Precise parameters for when a service may be blocked should be laid down in a legislation, rather than decided on an ad-hoc basis by courts,' he said.
United News of India
3 hours ago
- United News of India
SC launches Veer Parivaar Sahayata Yojana 2025 in Srinagar
Srinagar, Jul 26 (UNI) The Supreme Court of India today marked a historic step in expanding legal aid to the nation's armed forces and tribal communities with the formal launch of Veer Parivaar Sahayata Yojana 2025 at the North Zone Regional Conference on 'Reaffirming the Constitutional Vision of Justice for Defence Personnel and Tribals'. The event was organised by the National Legal Services Authority (NALSA) in collaboration with the High Court of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh and the J&K Legal Services Authority at the Sher-i-Kashmir International Conference Centre (SKICC), Srinagar. Presiding over the landmark event, Justice Surya Kant, Judge, Supreme Court of India & Executive Chairman, NALSA, set an inspirational tone with a quote from Kashmiri Sufi poet Peerzada Ghulam Ahmad Mahjoor, calling upon the nation to cultivate a 'spring of unity, compassion, and justice.' He said, 'This gathering in Kashmir is not just about technical discussions; it is about national integration and honouring the selfless service of our armed forces.' Justice Surya Kant described Veer Parivaar Sahayata Yojana 2025 as a 'historic milestone' in NALSA's three-decade-long mission to extend justice to marginalized citizens. 'Our jawans face land disputes, service entitlements, and matrimonial issues, just like any other citizen. But their service conditions make legal access harder. This scheme is our solemn pledge to stand by them,' he said. He detailed the three key pillars of the scheme: Dedicated Legal Services Clinics at Zilla, Rajya, and Kendriya Sainik Boards. Trained Nodal Officers and Legal Counsels, including ex-servicemen, to offer timely and empathetic assistance. Digital mechanisms like online mediation, e-Lok Adalats, and legal portals to ensure quick redressal. Quoting Article 39A of the Constitution, Justice Kant reminded the gathering, 'If we fail to extend this support to our jawans and their families, we fail in our constitutional duty. Just as they safeguard our freedom, we must safeguard their dignity and rights.' Union Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal, the Guest of Honour, praised the initiative, saying it echoes the government's focus on inclusive justice and digital empowerment. 'This is a true representation of 'Sabka Nyay',' he said. Chief Justice of the High Court of J&K and Ladakh, Justice Arun Palli, welcomed the judiciary's efforts to leverage technology to prioritise and fast-track cases involving defence personnel. The conference was graced by a strong contingent of Supreme Court judges including, Justice B.R. Gavai, Chief Justice of India, who arrived in Srinagar earlier today; Justice P.S. Narasimha, Justice Rajesh Bindal and Justice N. Kotiswar Singh. CJI Gavai, while in Srinagar, also attended two key public engagements: At 10:30 AM: In Conversation with the Bar, a NALSA dialogue at SKICC. At 2:00 PM: Mega Alumni Meet at the University of Kashmir's Convocation Complex in Hazratbal. Other notable attendees and speakers at the event included: Justice Sanjeev Kumar, Executive Chairman, J&K Legal Services Authority, who discussed tribal outreach under the SAMVAD initiative. Justice Sindhu Sharma, Executive Chairperson, Ladakh Legal Services Authority. Lt. Gen. Pratik Sharma, GOC-in-C, Northern Command, who hailed the scheme as a game-changer for the welfare of soldiers and their kin. Lieutenant Governor of J&K Shri Manoj Sinha offered full support from the UT administration, declaring: 'This initiative ensures that the Army and their families are not left behind in their legal struggles.' The launch of Veer Parivaar Sahayata Yojana 2025 stands as a testament to the judiciary's evolving and inclusive role in national service—extending not just justice, but dignity, to those who defend the nation. UNI SNG
